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Race and ethnicity – Civil Service policy
Our policies and practices aim to ensure that all employees, regardless of their ethnic background, are given the opportunity to achieve their full potential in the Civil Service.
We measure progress in this area by:
- consulting with employees
- doing outreach work, to attract more applicants from minority ethnic backgrounds to apply for jobs
- monitoring ethnic origin.
All departments and agencies are committed to supporting all employees including those from a minority ethnic background who are under–represented at some grade levels. Many have programmes of action, black and minority ethnic networks, champions, conferences, and training interventions in place. And many departments’ networks actively support the Civil Service Race Equality Network (CSREN).
In addition, all departments and agencies in the Civil Service ensure race equality through their work in the implementation of the Race Equality Duty. The Duty covers race equality in the workforce as well as in policy development and service delivery. Departmental actions on race equality are set out in individual race equality schemes which are available on all departmental websites. You can access all departments' schemes through the Directgov website.
Equality and Human Rights Commission
Benchmarking equality
Many departments and agencies also assess their progress on race equality actions by using a benchmarking tool that Race for Opportunity (RfO) offers its members. RfO is an organisation for employers who are committed to creating an inclusive workplace for people from all ethnic backgrounds.
Ethnic monitoring
The Civil Service asks employees to complete a voluntary declaration of their ethnic origin. The information is used confidentially to monitor the representation of employees from all racial groups.